Opposition ‘minister’ among 12 dead in Syria car bomb, say rebels

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A “minister” in Syria’s opposition government was among at least 12 people killed in a car bomb attack in the south of the country on Thursday, the body’s spokesman said.

“Twelve people, including the (opposition) provisional government’s local administration minister, Yaacoub al-Ammar, were killed” and dozens more were wounded, Shadi al-Jundi told AFP by telephone.

The attack targeted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a local police station in Inkhil, in Syria’s southern province of Daraa.

The victims included “opposition figures, rebels, and local officials,” Jundi said.

The provisional government was formed in late 2013 and manages institutions in some rebel-held parts of Syria. It is led by Jawad Abu Hatab, elected by the opposition-in-exile National Coalition.

Daraa was the cradle of Syria’s uprising in 2011, when demonstrators took to the streets to call for President Bashar Assad’s ouster.

The conflict has since evolved into a brutal multi-front war that has killed more than 300,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.